I needed to buy something from Builder’s Warehouse on the weekend and I found their purchasing flow so perplexing that I had to document it.
Step 1 of the process was that I wanted to buy an online only product:
A couple of comments:
- Why would you have the option to “select a store” if it is an online only product? It only confuses people when they wonder why there is store availability for an online only product and they question whether they should be shopping from you.
- “Sign in to buy” is a tough call-to-action. Someone has to have a lot of motivation to get that product to sign up to have the pleasure to give you money. Most visitors would disappear at this stage if they didn’t really love/need that product.
Step 2- signup
I am a masochist (and I was intrigued at what would come next in the process) so I clicked through.
More comments:
- Adding in additional non necessary fields is a sure-fire way to decrease completion of your form (especially if you have to sign in to buy). Why do you need my birthdate? Are you going to steal my identity with my passport/ID number? These are not things I want to share with a brand…
- The chutzpah of the news form. No option to not receive any news, but an opportunity to choose both email and phone spam. I know this form certainly doesn’t adhere to GDPR, and although I’m not an expert I think it falls foul of the Protection of Private Information Act (and as a consumer its a big conversion killer)
Step 3- registration complete
Now I’ve gone through all the hoops to try and purchase my product, but once I’m registered it spits me out on a registration confirmation page and invites me to go back to the homepage (where I have to find my product again). It would have been easier to save the consumer a couple of clicks and put them back on the product they were looking for.
All in all a very confusing process. If anyone at Builders Warehouse reads this, give me a call, I can help 🙂
Brendan McNulty 